Moscow: Rude middle finger gesture costs newsreader her job

Moscow, Nov 25: With people being given their pink slip and with the world economy going through some harsh times, people are loosing their jobs more than ever now. But one Russian newsreader has lost her job for an absolutely different reason. The award winning Russian newsreader was fired for showing the finger when she was reading a news report on US president Barack Obama.

Working with popular news channel REN TV, the presenter, Tatiana Limanova's gesture has caused major embarrassment to the channel. She was presenting a news on the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference and made the rude gesture while mentioning Obama's name. The gesture was made on air on Nov 14.

REN TV, however denied that the gesture was not meant for Obama but was meant for 'editorial staff' colleagues who were standing behind the camera and was attempting to distract her. Limanova allegedly made the gesture as a response to it.

The footage of the episode had gone viral maximizing the damage. The video had received close to 350,000 views in only one day. It was subsequently removed by REN TV citing copyright issues. The TV channel also stressed that the act was not 'linked to the item being presented by Limanova'.

Limanova argued with the channel management that she did the gesture offline and was pertaining to the news item she was presenting. The channel bosses failed to be impressed by the claim. REN TV in a statement said, "This does not diminish her guilt and cannot be considered an excuse. The REN TV management views this action as the gravest violation of on-air discipline and a demonstration of unprofessionalism."